SLAYER “Christ Illusion” /CD/

First re-release of the tenth full-length album by legendary American Thrash Metal band.Slayer's first release featuring the original line-up since 1990's “Seasons In The Abyss”!They came through on all of their promises. It is like a mix of "Seasons In The Abyss" and "God Hates Us All", and the return of the drum master Dave Lombardo places the band back on the edge, pushing themselves and the genre to look back at where they've been and where they go from here. Kerry and Jeff shred all over this album; it's a riff lover’s dream! And Tom goes balls-to-the-wall when it comes time to let rip some vocals.The result is a rushing linebacker assault of fast chord changes and slamming, skid-stop rhythms of drummer Dave Lombardo, who knows how to seat an offtime phrase within a dead-mans-hand cadence, then top it off with a fill that crushes its own rhythmic expectation with a structure like the silent falling of buildings under a nuclear shockwave. From newer albums, Slayer keep the jaunty bounce and two-chord rhythm riffs, but into it they adroitly mix their older lead guitar fills, chaotic solos and song structures that seem displaced by internal earthquakes.Lyrics, particularly in the song "Jihad", describe the September 11 attacks from a terrorist perspective. A Mumbai based Christian group, the Catholic Secular Forum, was outraged by this and thus demanded a recall. As a result, all Indian stocks of the album were recalled and destroyed by EMI India. Depicting a mutilated Christ painted by longtime collaborator Larry Carroll, the album's graphic artwork courted controversy. An alternative cover was issued to conservative retailers who felt uncomfortable with the original. The band also put out a censored cover which censored out the offensive artwork.Released on August 8, 2006, the album received generally favorable critical reviews, and it entered the Billboard 200 at number 5 - the band's highest U.S. chart position to date. “Christ Illusion” includes the Grammy Award-winning song "Eyes of the Insane". In its first week of release, the album sold 62,000 copies in the United States."Christ Illusion" is one of the most fist pumping, pissed off, and downright shredding albums you'll ever come across! Definitely the best Slayer record since "South Of Heaven" and "Seasons In The Abyss"!!American Recordings/Universal Music International B.V., 2006/2007 (0602537330454). Made in Germany.